1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for a multicast routing algorithm for multi-hop wireless networks, such as ad-hoc networks.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a type of mobile communications network known as an “ad-hoc” network has been developed. In this type of network, each mobile node is capable of operating as a base station or router for the other mobile nodes, thus eliminating the need for a fixed infrastructure of base stations. As can be appreciated by one skilled in the art, network nodes transmit and receive data packet communications in a multiplexed format, such as time-division multiple access (TDMA) format, code-division multiple access (CDMA) format, or frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) format, which enables a single transceiver at a first node to communicate simultaneously with several other nodes in its coverage area.
More sophisticated ad-hoc networks are also being developed which, in addition to enabling mobile nodes to communicate with each other as in a conventional ad-hoc network, further enable the mobile nodes to access a fixed network and thus communicate with other mobile nodes, such as those on the public switched telephone network (PSTN), and on other networks such as the Internet. Details of these advanced types of ad-hoc networks are described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,072,650 entitled “Ad Hoc Peer-to-Peer Mobile Radio Access System Interfaced to the PSTN and Cellular Networks”, granted on Jul. 4, 2006 , in U.S. Pat. No. 6,807,165 entitled “Time Division Protocol for an Ad-Hoc, Peer-to-Peer Radio Network Having Coordinating Channel Access to Shared Parallel Data Channels with Separate Reservation Channel”, granted on Oct. 19, 2004, and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,873,839 entitled “Prioritized-Routing for an Ad-Hoc, Peer-to-Peer, Mobile Radio Access System”, granted on Mar. 29, 2005, the entire content of each being incorporated herein by reference.
Multicasting is a more efficient method of supporting group communication than unicasting or broadcasting, as it allows transmission and routing of packets to multiple destinations using fewer network resources. With the advent of widespread deployment of wireless networks, the fast-improving capabilities of mobile devices, and an increasingly sophisticated mobile work force worldwide, content and service providers are increasingly interested in supporting multicast communications over wireless networks. As more and more applications and network control protocols require multicast support, multicast routing algorithms are necessary in mobile wireless multi-hop ad-hoc networks to support high efficiency in traffic distribution for multiple users in a network.
None of the existing ad hoc multicast routings are suitable for wireless ad-hoc networks with high dynamics with reasonably good scalability. The proposed Ad Hoc On-demand Distance Vector Multicast Routing Protocol (AODVMRP) deals with multicast support in the wireless ad-hoc networks without fixed infrastructure nodes with high dynamics. Compared to other existing multicast routing algorithms for wireless networks, the proposed algorithm can support better scalability and dynamics for wireless ad-hoc networks.